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■為慶祝香港回歸祖國，去年在紅磡香港體育館一連數晚舉辦了盛大的文藝匯演。 資料圖片
July 1 is a date that has a special status in the hearts and minds of Hong Kong citizens, since when the clock struck midnight (= hit the 0:00 mark) from June 30 to July 1 in 1997, there was an immediate transfer (=change) of Hong Kong's sovereignty (= complete power to govern a place) from the United Kingdom (= Britain or Great Britain) to the People's Republic of China.
Change of sovereignty
In the above paragraph, we use the word 'transfer' to refer to this change of sovereignty. But are there any other words that we can use, or actually often use? Yes, indeed. In Chinese, we often use the terms 'reunification'(= joining together again to form one complete entity) and 'return' ('hui gui' in Puthonghua, or 'wui4 gwai1' in Cantonese) to denote(= represent) this event. As for other English terms, we also often use 'handover', which means the act of moving power or responsibility from one person or group to another.
For the above four English expressions - 'transfer', 'reunification', 'return' and 'handover' - the middle two have similar meanings, while the other two can also form a separate group; both groups have quite different connotations(= ideas suggested by a word in addition to its main meaning).
Handover or return?
The pair 'transfer' and 'handover' can be said to be basically neutral(= not supporting any side or expressing any strong feeling) - they just mean that Hong Kong was once governed by Britain, and after 1997 China has had complete power over Hong Kong's governance(= the activity or state of governing a place).
But the meanings of the duo(= pair) 'reunification' and 'return' are more complicated: 'reunification' means that Hong Kong has been separated from mainland China for some time, and is now joined together again with its mother country, combining as one unit again; while 'return' means something quite similar - Hong Kong had been away from its motherland for some time, but now comes back to its embrace again.
Celebrate or protest?
What are you going to do on July 1 this year? There are two seemingly(= in a way that appears to be true but may in fact not be) contradictory(= showing contradictions or disagreements) activities that you can participate in: one is to join the celebrations, while the other is to take to the street for the march.
If you choose to join the celebrations, you are joyous that Hong Kong has returned to China, and the takeover in 1997 is something that we should be proud of. But even if you choose to join the protest, to express your dissatisfaction with the Hong Kong government, perhaps even in an irate(= very angry) way, that does not necessarily mean that you don't feel positive about our return to China - it just means that you are exercising your civil rights by expressing your views about government policies and social problems, so that people's lives can be improved.
Therefore, no matter which side you take, I believe that all of us care about Hong Kong. With the same ideal, we can join hands together, and make Hong Kong a better place.
Questions
1. Find a word in the second last paragraph, also starting with the letter j, that has a meaning similar to 'jubilant' in the title.
2. As for the word 'indignant' in the title, can you find a word, also in the second last paragraph, also starting with the letter i, that has a similar meaning?
3. The national day of which country also falls on July 1?
Answers
1. Joyous. 2. Irate. 3. Canada. ■MT Ness
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